Greentech Lead U.S: GE, in association with Clean Energy
Fuels, is expanding natural gas transportation in the United States.
Under this agreement, GE will support Clean Energy’s
efforts in developing “America’s Natural Gas Highway,” a fueling network that
will enable trucks to operate on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) coast to coast and
border to border.
Truck fleets often can reduce fuel costs by more than 25
percent and lower emissions with LNG.
As part of the collaboration, Clean Energy Fuels will
initially purchase two ecomagination-qualified MicroLNG plants from GE Oil
& Gas. The plug-and-play modular units, which are designed to rapidly
liquefy natural gas while minimizing a site’s physical footprint, will support
fueling stations along critical transportation corridors that run across
the U.S.
GE Energy Financial Services is providing up to $200
million in financing for the two GE MicroLNG plants.
Clean Energy expects to complete approximately 70 LNG
stations by the end of 2012, with more planned for next year to serve the
movement of goods along major transportation corridors throughout the U.S.
The LNG fueling being rolled out at Clean Energy’s
stations is targeted at long-haul, heavy-duty trucks, which will have the
advantage of longer driving ranges while not impacting tractor weight and
incremental costs.
In 2013, four major manufacturers will introduce the
Cummins Westport 12-liter LNG engine, which is the optimum size for long-haul
Class 8 trucks.
Clean Energy plans to use a standardized design of the
new GE MicroLNG plants to build additional MicroLNG plants. These first two
MicroLNG plants will produce up to 250,000 gallons per day. The plant is
designed to be expanded up to 1 million gallons per day as adoption and demand
increases.
The LNG produced by the MicroLNG plants will be used
primarily at Pilot-Flying J truck stops that serve truckers across the country.
The two GE MicroLNG plants are targeted to begin operation in 2015. The two
companies are currently assessing the best locations for these first two LNG
plants.
GE’s MicroLNG plant can liquefy natural gas at any point
along a gas distribution network, making it ideal for supporting the fueling of
vehicles in remote locations by reducing the impact of long distance fuel
transport. This MicroLNG technology is part of GE’s expanding technology
offerings in the natural gas-for-transportation sector.
The new GE MicroLNG system that will be used by Clean
Energy will produce 250,000 gallons of LNG per day, or about 54 million DGEs
(diesel gallon equivalents) per year with the built-in capability for further
expansion, which is a 67 percent increase over the capacity of the breakthrough
MicroLNG plant that GE Oil & Gas first introduced in January of 2012.
GE also is providing turnkey process/plant construction
and consultations on optimal plant location and power partner. The scope of the
agreement also includes project installation. It entails not only the
liquefaction but also the complete process design from the pre-treatment of the
gas to the storage system.